System of devices for keeping hotel accounts.



2 Sheetg-She'et Patented- May 20,1902;

Traben 02" J. w|LLY. SYSTEM v0F DEVICES FOB KEEPING HOTEL ACCUUNTS.

(Application filed Mar. 2B, 1901.)`

SIZE.

from lmfao/vl.-

*Nmv 700,465.l

Patenteamayao, |902.l

sysTEMDF nEvlcEs Fon KEEPING HoTEL Accouns.

(Application med Mar. 2s, 1901.)

(No `Model.)

als

UNITED STATES yPATENT OFFICE.

.I OHN WILLY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SYSTEM -OF DEVICES FORKEEPING HOTEL CCOUNTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N 0. 700,465, dated May'20, 1902. Application filed March 28, 1901. Serial No. 53,236. (No model.)

' T0 a/ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN WILLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have' invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Systems of Devices for Keeping Hotel Accounts, of which the following a specification. v l

My invention relates to systems of devices for keeping hotel accounts, and is partic-4 ularly intended to provide means wherebythe hotel clerks may have before them all the time and in a convenient position for use and examination the records of the various rooms and guests and the necessary' information touching both.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein-h Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a rack in connection with which my invention is set out. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the said rack, but with the cards dif ferently disposed. Fig. 3 is a view of one side of what I have called the room-card. Fig. .fis a view of one side ofwhat I call the guest-card. Fig. 5 is ay View of one side of what I call the condition-card??n Fig. 6

is a View of one side of whatlcall the meal-v card. v l

Like parts are indicated by the same letters in all the figures.

A A are thesides and frame-pieces of the;

rack.

B B are aseries of slots slightly inclined in the forwardly-projecting portions of the side or frame-pieces of the rack.

C C are the front metallic -strips on the frame-pieces, which cover the ends of the slots.

D D are sheet-metal pieces which are inserted in the slots before the'metal strips are attached. E E represent the lowel` end of each of these metallic pieces, whereby a kind of pocket is made between the two metallic pieces D D.

F F indicate the numerals, one associated with each pocket andalso with the corresponding room. l

Gr is the room-card, which should be of a given color-fas, for example, brown. It contains, arranged in any desired manner, the information, more or less permanent, which is associated with such room.v For example, as indicated on the card, it states the number of the room, the number ofpersons to be accommodated, and the facts aslto size, ex-

posure, heat, &c. This `formation may be continued onto the back-0f lthe card and may go so far as to contain an` inventory of the contents of the room. Thefcard, of course, can be of any size, shape, color, or material, and this is true of all the cards hereinafter referred to; but lI prefer toemploy a color,

andto furnish the necessary information to .f enable the clerk, whether he be familiar with f the house or not, to determine in advance, so far as that may be possible, whether or not it is such a room as will meet the requirements of the guest.

H indicates the guesticard, which,.as above Y* explained, should differ in color from the other classes of cards. This guest-card,r as indicated in Fig. 4, contains information peculiar to the guest, but identifying him with the particular room. Thus it contains the name of the guest, the room-number, therate, the day of arrival, and in the end the day'of departure and the account. For convenience it contains, as indicated, a place for the enumeration of extras, and on the reverse side may also contain other information or blanks for accounts or records. As has, just been stated about the room-card, so the guest-card may contain any desired information. The guest-card will be filled inas, for example, at the lower right-hand corner-with the filenumber assigned to the` guest and will also have, preferably at the upper right-hand corner, the name of one of the days of the Week. These two cards, coupledwith the rack, contain the essential fea-tures of my invention; but I may use other cards in connection ,with these, as hereinafter explained.

.I is a condition-card, upon which are contained blanks and spaces 'for the information necessary to indicate what the' condition of IOO the room is and when it will be ready for occupancy. This card is shown not so much as being essential to the system, but as suggestive of the fact that various cards of different classes coming from different employees, for example, and th usindicating the condition of the room, could be employed. Thus this condition-card mghthave on it matter which would indicate that the room was occupied by a permanent guest or by a proprietor or clerk, and thus if the house were entirely full the clerk would see at a glance how many rooms were still occupied by the proprietor, permanent guests, or others and would be able to make arrangements for placing these rooms at the disposal of transient guests, should such action come within the practice of the hotel in question. Such condition-card might also contain information indicating anyotherspecial services. Broadly speaking, the condition-card is intended to indicate by its color or the matter upon it, or both, some condition of the room which takes it out of the class of rooms occupied by transient guests.

The meal-card may be regarded, broadly, as a guests supplementary card, and such guests supplementary cards may be employed in the manner and to the extent required. The particular card of this character described is a meal-card designed to have the successive meals as served punched, and thus it becomes a record and may be put in the rack with the other cards and associated with them permanently as part of the permanent records of the hotel.

The use and operation of my system is as follows: iVhen a guest arrives, he registers.` The clerk glances at the rack, sees what rooms are free, and agrees with the guest upon agiven room. Opposite the name of the guest on the register is placed the room-number and also a file-number. The clerk `then takes a guest-card bearing the name of the day of the ensuing week, indicating the time limit of the guests account,

.enters on this card the name of the guest,

the room-number, and a hie-number, time of arrival, and other such data as may be required. This card-and we will assume that the guests cards are all white-is put into the pocket over the brown room-card of the room in question, and thus the ledger-account is started. This renders unnecessary a transient ledger-book and avoids the necessity of opening a book-account. In this way three separate postings required by the old practice-that is, to the room-rack, the transient-ledger,l and the Weekly -bill bookare accomplished in one operation. The clerk then enters, if desired, the guests name in the reference-book, with the room and file number and other information. As extras are from time to time charged they are indicated on the guest-card.

It is of course understood that any system or devices for keeping the cards and keeping the index thereof in any sort of referencebook, or index reference-book, or any other kinds of ledger and account books may be kept in connection with my system if and as desired or required. It will also be understood that the size, shapes, and arrangements, together with the color and matter upon the several cards, may be varied to suit convenience. i

I do not wish to be limited to the particular form and shape of the rack, as any kind of rack which is capable of use with the cards in the manner described would be satisfactory, and the rack may be of such a nature as to be capable of other uses than those required for the application of lnysystem.

I prefer to cut away the room-card at the corner, as indicated at G, so as to make it easier to remove the guest-card. I prefer to cut out the condition-card at J or J2, 0r at both places, so as to the more readily call attention. The condition-card should bearthe room number. The guest supplementary card, Fig. 6, is indicated by the letter K.

For convenience in understanding the system I would describe the room-card as brown, the guest-card as white, the condition-card as blue, and the guest supplementary card as green, and if other condition-cards or guest supplementary cards are used theyshould be of other colors.

To show some of the advantages of my system while further explaining its use, I may state that in the making out of bills the live account is found on the instant, there being no dead accounts to delay the finding, as in the book-ledger. The meal-card also aids in the making of settlements, for in the event of a guest not remembering the number of his room this card gives the information without recourse to the reference-book. A very great advantage over the book-ledger is in the making of settlementsas, for instance, two or more cashiers are ableto Workwith this system at the same time, thus relieving the strain during busy seasons. Also inthe checking it is a great advantage, for by this card system the checker can take the settled cards at any time of the day or night and check up the accounts without interfering with the cashier, (as is the case where the book-ledger is used,) and it is an easy matter to compare'the totals of the checked cards (kept in the order of settlement) with the cash-book ent-ries. In the event of a guest disputing his bill or any item charged upon it the transient-card with entry of items can be exhibited for his satisfaction without exposing the accounts of other guests, as would be the case were the bookledger open before him. WVhen the guest settles his bill and departs', the time of departure is entered in the reference-book from the settled transient-card. The names in alphabetical order in the reference-book are upon occasion found quickly, and this not alone aids the room-rack-ledger system, but is useful for many other purposes, such as affording in- IOO IIO

formation forthe mail-"clerk or to answer' in'-v qu'iries as to gu/estspasto present. s

A further aid to this system is to'have hooksv fastened alongside the room-raekledger for holding the settled cards prior to iilin'g, lpend'- ing the checkers use'ef them, also for mak-n ing the room-changes list for the housekeeper, also for unpaid accounts, andt'or other par-' ticular requirements. Holes such as shown punched in the transienticards andthe mealcards are serviceable for this purpose. The filing of the settled cards in consecutive number facilitates the nding of vold accounts when occasion calls for. The same boxesin which the cards come from the printer can bel used ,for the files. v 4

lThe yuse lof the device where the room-card alone is employedis illustrated injpthpe space opposite the numeral 2 in Fig. l, Where the room-card, preferably brown, is" shown. This, of course, should be the cendition of all the rooms not otherwise indicated; but vfor convenience the card-'is shown in but one pocket. Opposite the numeral 5 in Fig. l is shown the guesteard,'fwhich is inserted over and thuscovers up thebrownroom-card. When the guest-cardl isto -be removed, iti canA be easilydone without interfering with the brown card because ofthe cut-away por-p` tion of the latter. Whe'u'the roem nis out of order, there will beyno guest-card inthe pocket; but'the conditioncardwill be placed there, as indicated, opposite the numeral 8. It is preferably cut Iaway, as indicated, to expose theV room-number of, the room-card, an d thusthe obseryenwill always knewthat there is no mistake, because 'he sees the two numbers side by side 4This` condition-card need not be cutout atthe opposite corner, as indicatedin the drawings. vOpposite 'thenuJ meral 10 is shown anothercondition-card not cutout at any point, indicating'that'it is the room occupied by the proprietor. In thel pocket opposite the numeral l2 in Fig. 2 is shown the room-card, the guest-card, and`r the meal-card; but the two lastnamed cards would be removed and preferably hung at the side or near byuntil they were ready to be transcribed into the permanent records or until the cards were re'adyto be filed as a part of the permanent record. They are shown in this arran gement in Fig.' .Zfon'ly'to suggest that the t'wo cards thus filed together can be kepttogether for the purpose of completing the'reeord.'` v I claim- 1.. In a system of devices for keeping hotel accounts', and room andv1 guestV records, the` combination lofasuitable rack having a se.-

ries of numbered pockets, one foreach room, v'6o' with a permanent room-card adapted-:tote inserted in eachipocketfcontaininginforma-z.

'tion and'imarks ior -VLsignsrl-'applicablesA to the room'in question, anda guests cardadapted to be inserted in theisameipocket and con-` 65 taining information andmarks or1 signs a'p- Vplicable to the particular' guest in connection combination of a suitablerackhavinga Sie-'f7 5 *ries of Inumbered pockets;y one'for each'room,"v with a permanent room-card adapted "-to be r inserted in each 'pocket containinginforma" tion' and marks or'signs applicabletoi'the room in question, and a'guests card adapted A8e taining information and Vm'arksor sigl'isi ap# plicable to the particular guestin connection i'withthe room in question, Isaidroom-card'c'ut away at one vcorner tojfacilitate the removal of the guest-card, each of saidca'rds containi'- y ing matter which"distinguishesitfrom the other cards and assigns itto its'pecu-liar duty" or service. Y- f 3. In a system ofdevi'ces for'keepinghetelffgo accounts,` and"roomandguest'recordslthe combination-of "a suitable rack havi'ngaseries of numbered pocketsjone'foreacliroom,

with a series of room-cards, one for1 each" pocket, a series tof guestLcardsfoi-said-pockif 9'5 ets wherererquired; anda series of condition` eardsfor said pockets V'where required, said 'cards diierin'glamong'themselves Ainc'o10r,` eaclrot'` said cards containing"m'atterwhich distinguishes it 'fromithe other cards 'and assigns it to its 'peculiar duty 'or servicev 4.5`In a system ofdevicesfor keeping hotel accounts, and room yand guest records, the i combination of a rackfhavin g numbe`redpock=-- ets, one for each room, with a1 seriesoffronir-q cards one for each* pocket,'and 'aseliesofien-^ ditionp-cardsfor said pockets whererequired ,"`---'y 'saidcondition-card cut away so as when in'po sitiontoexpose apart ofithe romcardiea'chf of said cards 'containing' matter' whichI 'dis-11o tinguishes it from the othercar'd's and assigns f it to its 'peculiar duty or ser-vice?" JOHNfWHiL'Y: Witnesses:t i HMER LgKRFT,

'FANNY Bg'FAY. 

